


Just Before

by taynicola



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Marichat, ladrien, so this became a thing, some oneshots that i was too weak not to write
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-14
Updated: 2016-03-14
Packaged: 2018-05-26 14:51:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6243979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/taynicola/pseuds/taynicola
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It had been a decade since Adrien Agreste had called Ladybug amazing under his breath, a century since she’d heard him, and an eternity since this lightning blue eye contact had set his soul on fire.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Just Before

**Author's Note:**

> anyway this is really short and i'm trash

In moments like this, Adrien was painfully aware of the passage of time.

It had been exactly twelve seconds since he’d started holding his breath. Thirteen since he realized what he’d said. Fifteen since Ladybug’s eyes had met his, wide, shocked, and… something else. He would like to commit more time to deciphering that almost desirous look, but he didn’t have the seconds to spare.

It had been a decade since Adrien Agreste had called Ladybug amazing under his breath, a century since she’d heard him, and an eternity since this lightning blue eye contact had set his soul on fire.

Ladybug blinked, once, and Adrien finally let out his breath and shook himself slightly.

“I... I didn’t… I’m…” Each stammered syllable felt like a death sentence.

“Say that again,” Ladybug said. She spoke quietly, but there was… something underneath the calm, and Adrien once again wished he had enough brain functionality to figure it out.

“I’m sor… I— I don’t—”

Ladybug took a step closer, and Adrien was back to not breathing. “Say that again,” she said, more insistent, and this time Adrien could comprehend the heavy, greedy husk under her voice.

He took a step back, eyes wide and jaw slack, but Ladybug took one forward to match him.

“I said… uh…” he tried to speak, but Ladybug’s eyes were sharpening and she was stepping towards him and he was stepping back and he lost track of his time and he couldn’t _breathe_ and—

His back hit the wall and all his breath left him in an instant. Ladybug’s intent eyes were inches from his own. He stared hopelessly at her, desperately searching for some semblance of Chat Noir’s confidence in him, but it seemed that even his alter ego was stunned into silence.

By some miracle, he managed to croak out, “You’re so amazing.” It was barely a whisper, but his voice squeaked at the tail end of the last word, because as he’d spoken Ladybug had come even closer.

There was now about an inch separating them. All he could see was Ladybug’s face, but she wasn’t staring at his eyes anymore. Her gaze was fixed soundly on Adrien’s lips.

This realization sent blood rushing to Adrien’s cheeks, and he could feel his face, his ears, and even his neck become unbearably hot. His heartbeat thudded behind his eyelids and he saw Ladybug smile slightly and lean in. Adrien’s breath hitched as he waited—

And waited. And waited. And—

Ladybug’s nose brushed against his for a brief second, and Adrien shuddered, but there was no kiss. Everything in Adrien’s field of vision except for Ladybug was swirling and twisting, and Adrien found himself grateful that she’d pushed him against this wall. He leaned back into it, pressing his palms against the cool brick, and Ladybug shifted closer to maintain the sliver of space between them.

“You know,” Ladybug finally said, her voice low. “Some people say that the moment just before a kiss is the best part.”

Adrien let out a shaky breath, and Ladybug smiled again. She was a few inches shorter than him, so her head was inclined up to meet his. Her eyes flickered up to his for a fleeting second, and Adrien’s knees nearly buckled. Instead, he forced air into his lungs and whispered, “That ah… that’s an interesting theory.”

Ladybug hummed her agreement and the sound vibrated in the space between them. Adrien had never seen her like this— _his lady—_ and this side of her boiled his blood and melted his muscles. Without his consent, his eyes fluttered shut.

They stayed like that, but Adrien had long ago lost track of his seconds. As far as he knew, it could have been a minute that he felt Ladybug’s breath mingle with his own, or it could have been an hour. It could have been 30 seconds that his hands twitched at his sides, desperate to close the space between them, or it could have been 30 lifetimes. All he did know is that at one point he opened his eyes and saw Ladybug’s had closed as well, and at the sight of her flushed cheeks and haggard breathing, he tilted his head forward until their foreheads were touching. This brought them even closer together, and Ladybug’s eyes flickered open.

While earlier her eyes had been hooded and intense, now they were almost sleepy. Intoxicated.  Her lips were trembling.

Feeling on the verge of passing out, Adrien drew in as deep a breath he could manage. A breathy “Ladybug—“ was all he managed to say before Ladybug stepped back. Her quick movement created a vacuum of cold air between them, and Adrien felt a physical pull to step towards her. He didn’t.

Adrien stayed plastered against the cool brick wall as Ladybug turned to go. Looking over her shoulder, she met his eyes one last time and smiled, small and content. “You know,” she said, without a trace of the quivers and tremors he was feeling, “I think you’re pretty amazing too.” And she was gone.

Adrien watched the edge of the roof that Ladybug had yoyo-ed away from for just a moment, his brain finally catching up on all of his lost seconds.

Adrien’s knees finally failed him and he slid ungracefully down the wall. Closing his eyes and pressing his head against the brick, he exhaled long and slow. _What. The hell. Was that._


End file.
